‘Zorro’ Reboot Moving Forward With New Writer and ‘Dark Knight’ Style

Sony Pictures has been pursuing a reboot of 'Zorro' for sometime, after Antonio Banderas famously portrayed the masked vigilante in 'The Mask of Zorro' and 'The Legend of Zorro.' Now, with this new endeavor being a priority, the studio has since hired a new writer to give the reboot a 'Dark Knight'-inspired edge.

Ever since Christopher Nolan revolutionized Batman with his 'Dark Knight' trilogy, a new revolution sparked consisting of self-described "gritty" and "dark" movies, and 'Zorro' is the next to follow suit.

According to Deadline, Chris Boal -- who is responsible for adapting the book 'Old Man's War,' and penning the Viking film 'Vanguard' and 'Caesar' -- has been hired to write the script for 'Zorro,' which will give the iconic character a new background and emotional center with lots of martial arts and sword fights (Boal was even a national competitive fencer before he was a writer). The film will be produced by Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, who are also rebooting the 'Men in Black' franchise.

'Zorro' is a classic tale with a classic hero and film interpretations reaching back to the '30s, but perhaps now is as good a time as any for Sony to bring back the masked hero, as films like 'Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones' prove that stories directed at the Latin-American market can be just as profitable as more mainstream efforts. But with studios with dollar signs in their eyes and eager to tap this market, we just hope standards aren't lost in speeding to get this guy on the big screen again.